When President McKinley turned down Benjamin Oliver Davis for a place at West Point due to the colour of his skin, Davis joined the army as a private. Davis soon worked his way through the ranks to receive his second lieutenant commission in 1901. It would be over 30 years before another black officer would receive his commission, and that would be Benjamin Oliver Davis's son, Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr.
In theory, black troops would be barred from combat, but Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. would lead the first Black flying squadron, the Tuskegee Airmen, to success during WWII.
For this episode, I'm joined by Doug Melville, a direct relative of Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. and Sr.
When George Lucas's film 'Red Tails' (2012), celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen, was released, Doug was shocked when he realised that Ben Jr.’s name had been omitted and replaced by the fictional Colonel A. J. Bullard. And Ben’s father, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., America’s first Black general who helped integrate the military, was left out too. The film inspired him to rediscover his family’s story, which spans five generations, and write Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals.
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164 - Marshall and Stimson
163 - British Wartime Industry
162 - Tobruk
161 - Marine Aces of the South Pacific
160 - African American Medal of Honor Recipients
159 - The Aztec Eagles
158 - With the Old Breed: EB Sledge
157 - General Patton
156 - Churchill, Master and Commander
155 - Pearl Harbor
154 - Chemical Weapons
153 - Canadian Army Civil Affairs Units
152 - U.S. Naval Gunfire Support in the Pacific
151 - Escape from Greece
150 - Eisenhower's Broad Front Strategy
149 - Australia's war with France
148 - Luftwaffe Special Weapons
147 - Operation Barbarossa
146 - Stop Lines
145 - Bomb Aimers
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